Exploring The Best of the Left Podcast

KBOO Digital Divide: Interview with Jay Tomlinson, creator of Best of the Left Podcast | by Ross Freeman Levin

reporter Ross Freeman Levin thinks he spends too much time trolling podcasts for interesting audio content. But that seemingly-wasted time may be paying off: he's found creative inspiration in one show, The Best of the Left Podcast. Ross interviewed Jay Tomlinson, the show's producer, and picked his brain for tasty tidbits about making a living as a progressive podcaster.

Best of the Left Script for Digital Divide:find links for content in this segment following this script(audio from bestoftheleft.com intro)

That’s the voice of Jay Tomlinson, producer of The Best of the Left Podcast.

He works from his home in Chicago or on the road, distributing his show through the internet to listeners around the world.

Jay takes a broad spectrum of progressive media and paints ideas as soundscapes through the voices of others.

He is a story teller, media aggregator and curator of ideas.

If you listen to his show you’ll hear commentary, debate, comedy, thought pieces, and music related to the show’s topic.

Jay posts a new program every three days on a different topic ranging from labor rights to marriage equality and everything in-between.

I use an application on my mobile phone to download The Best of the Left automatically whenever there’s a new episode.

And I listen to the show whenever I have time to wrap my mind around big ideas.

Although he doesn’t typically editorialize, Jay asks the listener to actively engage his audio collage.

Listeners give their feedback on his show through various social media channels or by leaving voice mail to be played on the show.

Here are a few clips from the most recent The Best of the Left podcast entitled ‘Dumb as the Fossils we Burn’:

(audio clips from podcast)

Jay has found a niche where his listeners support him not only with comments and suggestions but also with their dollars.

I wanted to know more about Jay’s creative process and what it takes to produce a successful multimedia podcast.

So I interviewed Jay Tomlinson to give you a glimpse of what it can be like to work as a curator of ideas online and make a living doing it.